I hate homework.

I hate homework.

Much like the average 6th and 7th grader, I hate homework. I hate doing it, and I hate giving it. In a perfect work, my students would never have it, and neither would I.

Our world isn’t perfect.

Why do I hate homework?

Our students are in school from 8:30am-4:00pm. At Headwaters, our Middle School students are in Activities (non-academic: PE, Music, Sports). And, that is still a long day. If our students leave school directly after dismissal, they probably get home somewhere between 4:30-5:15, depending on travel distance and traffic. After they take a break, get a snack, and have some time for free play—which I strongly advocate for—it is 6:00pm. Then, it is time for dinner. And downtime, then a shower (hopefully). Then, let’s call it 7:30pm. Then it is time to start homework. This isn’t even counting the students who have after school activities, like swim team, dance, sports, etc., which many of our students do.

Kids need sleep. While many of our students are staying up too late, many aren’t. An 8:30pm bedtime is absolutely not out of the question for a lot of our students (even though they usually won’t admit it, because that’s not cool!), especially for the most physically active ones, who also happen to be the busiest after school. If they even have 30 minutes of homework, that early—and necessary—bedtime becomes impossible to accomplish.

Kids also need time to play freely, spend time with family, and do what makes them happy. We cannot expose them to all of life’s possibilities in school. They need free time to explore on their own.

I still assign homework. But…

I really try my hardest to give ample time to complete assignments in class. All of the homework I give falls within the following categories:

• Finish an in-class assignment. I always poll the class. If more than half has over 20 minutes of work left, I move it to the next class for in-class work time. There are 2 nights before our next class meeting, so I figure 20 minutes over 2 nights is fair.
• Study for an upcoming assessment. The only test-y kind of assessments I give are on vocab./root words, and we have practiced the words for weeks in class before the assessment.
• Read. I expect my kids to read nightly, and they can read whatever they want.

“When I was in school, I had homework…”

One of the most dangerous things we say as teachers starts with the phrase, “When I was in school…”

I hated (most) of school. I was a terrible student, and a complete pain for most of my teachers to have in class—If you’re reading this, I am sorry. I am not teaching now to put the students through much of the misery I experienced. I am here to inspire learning, and I want my students to enjoy coming to school and my classes. I also want to enjoy teaching them.

Furthermore, I want to live in a society where working too hard and too much is not cool. Providing time for students to spend time with family, be freely active, and explore their passions is training for their futures—just as much as teaching them good writing skills is.

When they grow up, I want them to continue to value free time, so maybe they will start a business like the school they once attended—where we value work, family, friends, and free time to explore what life has to offer beyond the walls of this school.

I have SO many other reasons about why I hate homework, but I'll leave it at this for now. To be continued...

Centering & Mindfulness

Why (and how) I practice mindfulness.

Like all of us, my life is busy. Luckily, because of where I work, mindfulness is something always at the forefront of my mind. But, I also know—and feel—when I am at my busiest, centering and mindfulness are things I let go of.

When I get overwhelmed, I have a tendency to disengage from feeling. I don’t stop doing. In fact, I might even appear to be doing more: working more and harder, attending more social events, sleeping less. But, even though I appear to be doing more, I am engaged less and less. I am not present.

I have learned over that years that presence is what makes a full and happy life. I have also learned that not being present is very easy to do. And, I have learned that being present isn’t hard, but it does take practice.

My workplace requires that I lead my classes in a short centering/mindfulness exercise at the start of every meeting. I also use this time to center myself. I focus only on my body and my breathing—in that moment. While I am coaching the students on the practice of mindfulness, I model it.

I carry this practice into my life beyond school. I wake up most mornings before the sun rises so I can get in a good workout. I have an exercise space in my garage (I’ll blog about this space and routine another day…). I mention this space because it is a place where I can get away. And, I find I am the most able to practice centering and mindfulness after a good sweat, and away from the inside distractions of my family. After whatever I have done for exercise, I spend some time in stillness, Savasana (for any other yogis out there). I focus my breath, and the rise and fall of my belly and chest as I breathe in and out. Thoughts of the fast-approaching day enter, and I practice letting them go and being in this moment with myself.

This simple practice, of staying present with my body for a few minutes most mornings, has made a tremendous difference in my life and my teaching.

In my early years of teaching, I planned and did. In class, I was always thinking of what was next, or if and how a conversation I didn’t start or plan was pulling me/the class off schedule, and how I might get us back on track. I wasn’t listening to my students. I wasn’t hearing anything but myself and my own thoughts about what’s next?.

Listening is the most powerful tool we have as teachers. Being in the present moment, with no expectation or thought of what is coming next, allows us the freedom to listen.

Listening to students, and actually hearing what they are saying, has made my teaching fuller and easier.

Listening makes my life fuller and easier.

Practicing centering and mindfulness with myself on a regular basis makes it possible for me to listen to others. Imagine a day where you didn’t have the pressure of thinking about what you were going to do next, because all you had to do was listen. It is easy, but it does take practice.




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New Year. New Blog.

The Best and The Worst

So far.... 

This year brought many new and exciting challenges for me. I am teaching 6th graders again after a two year hiatus, and I have new roles in the community: I have taken a leadership role around Middle School Advisory, and I am the New Faculty Mentor for the new teachers on the River campus.

I took on these new roles because I was ready for it—I asked for more, and I am pleased to report these new roles have given me the elevated challenge I was craving. But, with these new challenges, I have been forced—on a daily basis—to evaluate my task list. I must triage, and I don’t leave every day feeling finished. I am feeling the demands of, once again,  making sure I have balance between my work and personal life. Leaving work by 4pm daily is incredibly important to me. It allows me to have precious time with my son in the afternoons. I am still, mostly, succeeding with this, and have left even earlier on a couple of occasions.

To say finding that balance has been my biggest challenge isn’t necessarily true, because my 6th graders certainly win that award. In my two years away from teaching them an actual core subject, I had forgotten exactly how slowly they move in these first few weeks of their middle school lives. I continuously over-plan classes, and I am spending lots of time re-doing/writing plans because things are not going as I thought they would. I am currently—already—not only 1-2 weeks behind, but nearly everything I planned for the past 4 week, I changed. Still, with all of these challenges, I have managed to experience some really awesome stuff!

Working with our new team of teachers has been incredibly rewarding. Being the listening ears for their first-few-week questions and debrief has been a treat. When I signed on to this role, I envisioned lots of systems setup (my personal fav.) and day-to-day practice feedback and support. However, I am finding that what new employees need the most is someone to listen to them, and my guess is that extends far beyond this workplace. There is so much more that goes into joining a new community than understanding course calendar practices and reassessment policies. Culture assimilation, and shock, are real. The excitement is raw. I am happy to be the support for these incredible teachers, and I hope their experience of the first few weeks went a little more smoothly because of the support, and the ears, I provided. I do plan to get real feedback from them about this, too.

All-in-all, it really has been a wonderful and exciting start to the year. The biggest highlight for me, though, is the people I work with and for—faculty, students, and parents. I get to work in a place where I am respected as a professional and a human, and where that feeling is mutual across the community. I feel fortunate to have found a place to work where I really see myself staying for my entire professional career, and where I will never run out of ways to grow and people supporting me to keep learning.

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